Every Moment Counts
by XxBlissfulBlondeBrainxX
Summary: The gang has flashbacks of their great times together just before graduation. Slight Troyella & Chaylor. OneShot.


**A/N: Hi everyone!! Long time no see... Well I came up with this one-shot a month ago, and finished it a few days ago... just in time to bring in the New Year:D:D:D **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything... sadly. :(**

* * *

The gang was sitting on the front steps of East High, waiting for the moment that would mark the start of their real lives to start: Graduation. The six friends were already wearing their black gowns, their hats in hand.

"Can you believe that we are actually graduating?" Sharpay asked, adjusting the pink bracelet in her hand.

"I know, it seems like yesterday that I arrived here" Gabriella said with a sigh.

Troy, who was sitting next to her, put an arm around her. "But come on girls, it's not like we're gonna be far away from each other" he said.

"Yeah, I mean, we are all going to U. of A. but still, it's different to be in high school than being in college" Taylor replied.

"I remember everything we've been through, ever since we've met" Chad said with a smile.

(Flashback)

_A five-year-old Chad was walking hand in hand with his mom, entering preschool. He had a plush basketball in his hand, and a small afro growing in his head._

_Once he entered the classroom, he was told to sit down next a dirty-blonde-haired boy, who had a basketball T-shirt on._

_"Hi, I'm Chad"_

_"Hi, I'm Troy… do you like basketball?"_

_"Yep, I love to play, one day, I want to play in the NBA!"_

_"I also love basketball… my dad said that one day, I might play like a pro!"_

_"Really? That's awesome, maybe we could during playtime"_

_"Sure"_

(End flashback)

"Aaaw, I bet little Troy was just as cute as he is right now" Gabriella said with a giggle.

"Nah" Sharpay said looking at him, "He was much cuter then" she laughed at Troy's face.

"That hurt Shar, hurt me deep" he replied pretending to be hurt.

"Oh come on! Don't be such a drama king!" Taylor told him, while putting her hat next to her.

"Hey! What's wrong with that?" Ryan asked looking at her. Everyone laughed.

"I didn't mean it in that way.. I meant it in the way of being overly dramatic, not for being in the drama club, Ryan" Taylor explained.

"Oh… right" he said. "So how did you and Troy meet, Gabi? Because you never really told us" he asked.

"Yeah, I mean, you told us you met at a party in New Year's Eve, but you never gave us details of your meeting" Sharpay said.

"Fine, I'll tell you… it all started when I was at the Ski Lodge resort right before coming here…" she began saying, her mind flashing back to that night.

(Flashback)

_Gabriella was getting ready to go to the young adults party that was being held at the freestyle club. She didn't really want to go, but her mom had told her to go and enjoy it. So she decided to give it a shot. She took her book and purse from the nightstand, and left for the club._

_She sat down on a couch, opening her book. She was also listening to the couple singing. She then heard the emcee dude ask, "So who's gonna rock the house next?" And two spotlights started searching for another couple._

_She sighed, thinking of how embarrassing singing in front of so many people could be. However, she wasn't ready for her to be the next victim of the spotlight._

_She dropped her book and purse as some weird dudes with crazy hats pushed her towards the stage. She also noticed that there was a cute guy also being forced to sing._

_As they awkwardly stood there, waiting for the moment to end, the guy came up. "You know, someday, someday you might thank me for this. Or not" he chuckled and gave the microphone to the cute guy next to her, then left._

_The music started, and the guy started singing. Gabriella sighed when she realized it was her turn to sing. Then she noticed the guy trying to leave her alone. She sang the verses looking at the darkest corner in the room. She felt the guy stop and go back to his place, then they both sang in perfect harmony._

_After completely letting themselves go with the song, and feeling some kind of chemistry with the other, they finished. Looking deep into each other's eyes and feeling like the only ones in the room._

_"Troy" the guy said, offering his hand, bringing Gabriella out of her slight daze._

_"Gabriella" she replied with a smile, shaking his hand._

_They left outside to talk. They pretty much asked about the singing, but hey, it was a start. Then, everyone started counting down to the new year. They stood there, looking everywhere but each other's eyes. Then they both looked into their eyes, his eyes occasionally flicking to her lips._

_"I guess I better go find my mom and wish her a happy new year" Gabriella said, trying to break the moment._

_"Yeah, me too. I mean not your mom, my mom, and dad" he said and she nodded._

_"I'll call you! I'll call you tomorrow" he said. "Here, put your number in" he gave her his phone._

_"Yeah" she said and punched her number in, and then gave it back to him. He took her picture._

_"You too" she gave him her phone, and he took his picture and punched his number in too._

_As soon as she got her phone back, she left, thinking that she would see him tomorrow, never expecting him to live where her mom as being transferred._

(End Flashback)

"Aaaw" Was all Sharpay and Taylor said as soon as she finished telling the story. Troy cupped Gabriella's face with his hands and kissed her softly.

"That's what I call fate. I mean, not to sound girly or anything, but look at you. You're in love, happy, and heck, I might even go and thank the dude that brought you two together" Chad said and everyone stared at him.

"Wow… I'm impressed. Chad has a soft side? I didn't know that!" Sharpay exclaimed and Gabriella laughed.

"Me either, and I'm the girlfriend" Taylor kissed her boyfriend on the cheek.

"Ok, so let me get this straight: After that, you saw each other again at East High?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, pretty much" Troy replied with a smile, staring at Gabriella.

"Wow" Ryan said and they all fell to a comfortable silence, reminiscing all of the great times they spent together.

"So guys, are you happy with the prom results?" Sharpay asked, her head resting on Ryan's shoulder.

"What prom results?... Oh, those results" Gabriella replied, and they all went back to the week before.

(Flashback)

_Prom night. The biggest night in the life of a high-schooler. Right now, the gang was sitting on one of the tables. The girls all looked awesome. When Troy first saw Gabriella walk down the stairs at her house, he almost passed out; but all he did was stand there, drooling._

_Troy and Gabriella were about to go visit their 'secret hideout' one last time. Obviously, Chad had to say something to tease them and said, "Going to your favorite place to make out?" the couple blushed but shrugged it off._

_They left for a while. And when they came back, the Prom King and Queen were already being announced. Gabriella smiled when she saw Sharpay with a crown. She knew it was her friend's dream to be Prom Queen._

_"I'll say it again in case he wasn't here, our Prom King is, Troy Bolton!" Ms. Darbus said. Gabriella giggled at Troy's embarrassed face._

_"Guess we were here too late" he muttered and ran to the stage. Gabriella ran after him and stood right in front of the stage, so she could get a clear view._

_"Now, as tradition states, King and Queen must share a dance" Troy and Sharpay just stood there, looking at each other awkwardly. Troy then fixed his gaze on his girlfriend._

_"Go on Troy. Dance with Shar. We can dance later" she smiled up at him. He nodded and reached to grab her hand, he kissed it and then turned to Sharpay. She smiled at him and they started dancing._

_The couple felt weird. They were great friends, but still. As soon as the song was over, they hugged in a friendly way. "Congratulations" they said, and then went to get their dates._

_"May I have this dance?" Troy asked Gabriella, curtsying in front of her._

_"Of course you may" Gabriella said, also curtsying. Troy grinned at her his award-winning smile and took her hand, leading her to the dancefloor. He put his hands on her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. And right under the shimmering lights that covered the gym's ceiling, they leaned in and kissed while swaying with the romantic music that was playing._

(End Flashback)

"I still can't believe you were late to the coronation, I mean, Gabi was nominated and she wasn't there, because you two were busy 'talking' somewhere!" Sharpay exclaimed.

Troy and Gabriella blushed. "Shar, FYI, we were talking" Gabriella replied and Troy nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, sure… but I mean, didn't you notice that the coronation was going to start? I mean, come on Troy, you're not that stupid, you obviously knew you were gonna win"

"Yeah… hey! I'm not stupid! And ok fine, I admit it, we kissed, one time! Then we talked and then we left. Sue me for being a romantic person and wanting to spend a few minutes with my girlfriend" Troy answered.

"Whatever. But seriously! It was very awkward to stand there and wait for you" Sharpay said almost punching him.

"Seriously! Stop it guys! Seriously!" Chad said grabbing Sharpay by her arm to prevent her from tackling Troy. They all laughed at the scene, and then remembered the many times they used the word 'seriously'…

(Flashbacks)

_"Ugh.. This is so annoying, Seriously!" Gabriella exclaimed sitting down on her desk._

_----_

_"He's dating me, and I'm a brainiac! How can he be so brainless! I mean, seriously!" Taylor told Gabriella, continuing her rant about how Chad was._

_---_

_"Seriously!" Sharpay yelled._

_---_

_"Seriously?" Troy asked Ryan._

_"Seriously" Ryan answered._

_----_

_"I got an A on the math test!!!" Chad yelled almost doing a happy dance._

_"Seriously?" Troy said with his jaw almost dropping to the ground._

_"Seriously"_

_-----_

_"Seriously!"_

_"Hello? Seriously!"_

_"Seriously"_

_-------_

(End Flashback)

"Wow… that's many times we said that word, seriously!" Ryan said and they rolled their eyes but laughed.

"Yep… it's our word… if they ever ask us, 'Is there any word that describes your group of friends?' we would answer: 'Seriously?!'" Gabriella giggled.

"Yeah" they all agreed. They stayed a few minutes in silence, enjoying their last moments as seniors.

"Remember that time when, for some odd reason, they allowed us to listen to music while eating lunch?" Taylor asked, a small chuckle coming out at the end of her sentence.

"Was it when we started singing and dancing on the table?" Sharpay asked.

"Yeah"

"That was an awesome thing to do. We were the only crazy people singing and dancing along, everyone was staring at us" they all started thinking.

(Flashback)

_The gang was having lunch at their regular table in the cafeteria, which was the one on the second floor, right in the middle. Perfect view of the room. Suddenly an announcement was heard, it was coming from the PA._

_"Today during lunch we'll allow you to listen to music. Ms. Darbus thought it would be a nice change to have some culture while eating" Principal Matsui said "Thank you, and have a good day"._

_Everyone started cheering, happy that music was being allowed. Sometime after the music had started, Sharpay stood up and started dancing around the table. Gabriella and Taylor soon joined too._

_"Are girls crazy? Everyone's staring at you!" Chad said, and the girls rolled their eyes._

_"Come on guys! Let the music take you away" Gabriella told them, and Troy decided to join his girlfriend, he pulled her close and twirled her. Ryan went to dance with Sharpay, doing their Broadway-style dancing._

_"Chad, come on!" Taylor pulled him up and he also danced awkwardly next to her, until he started to relax. Gabriella and Sharpay were soon dancing on the table._

_"Hey, I feel like being in RENT!" Sharpay said, moving to the beat. Gabriella nodded with a giggle._

_"Yeah, although we would need a larger table"_

_"Hey girls, what you talking about?" Troy said, taking Gabriella in his arms._

_"About us dancing on the table reminding us about 'La Vie Boheme' from RENT" she replied._

_"Hey, you're right! So let's dance like Roger and Mimi then" he said, pulling her even closer._

_"Guys, this music requires dancing, not kissing!" Sharpay said, pulling them apart._

_"Sorry Shar" they answered and continued dancing. Soon, Ryan, Chad and Taylor joined them on the table. People were all looking up at their table. You could tell that they were having the time of their lives._

(End Flashback)

"That was an awesome time. One of the best things I've done here" Gabriella said.

"Yeah" They all agreed. Troy suddenly pulled Gabriella closer, and leaned in to kiss her. Just as their lips were going to touch, Chad interrupted.

"Dude, do you remember when we won the championships?" he asked, making Troy and Gabriella pull apart.

"Yeah. It was also the day when I first tried to kiss Gabi and you interrupted!" Troy exclaimed, rolling his eyes.

"Really? I didn't notice" Chad replied.

"You want me to re-tell every time we tried to kiss and you interrupted? Seriously, you're bad timing should disappear when we're in college" Troy said. Gabriella and him then remembered every time their dear friend had bad timing.

(Flashbacks)

_"Congratulations, Wildcat!" Gabriella told Troy, hugging him from behind._

_"Well what about your team?"_

_"We won too!" they both leaned in, their lip were just centimeters apart when they felt someone shove a basketball between them._

_"Dude! The team voted you the game ball" Chad said._

_"Yes, Chad, thank you, thanks a lot!" Troy said sarcastically. Then the couple leaned again, only to be interrupted again._

_"Chad just asked me out!" Taylor told Gabriella excitedly._

_-----_

_The gang was at the after party. Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, and Troy were hanging out. Just as Troy was going to ask Gabriella to dance, Chad tapped him on the shoulder._

_"Yes Chad?" Troy said annoyed._

_"We need to go take a picture with the team" Troy rolled his eyes and smiled at Gabriella._

_----_

_"T as in Troy?" Gabriella asked, staring at Troy with an in-love look._

_"Why, yeah" he answered. She smiled and leaned in, he did too. They were inches apart, but a freshman dude came and interrupted because we wanted his yearbook signed by the basketball star._

_Once the boy was gone, they leaned in again, smiles on their faces. "Dude, lets go" Chad told Troy. He nodded, and looked at Gabriella with an apologetic look._

_----_

_Gabriella and Troy were watching a movie at her house. It was a chick-flick, which meant that Troy was bored with it. He leaned in to kiss her when his cell phone rang._

_"Hello?"_

_"Hey dude, I forgot what we had for math homework for Monday, can you please tell me?"_

_"I'm kind of busy right now, Chad! Call Tay, she'll know" Troy hung up his phone, rolling his eyes. "Stupid Chad and his stupid bad timing" he muttered, and Gabriella giggled and gave him a soft sweet kiss._

(End Flashbacks)

"Chad! You are going to be remembered as the guy with worst timing ever in East High" Sharpay said with a spark of drama.

"Well at least I'll be recognized with that other than 'Ice Queen'!" Chad told her.

"Just FYI, it's 'Defrosted Ice Queen'!" Sharpay yelled.

"Still, Ice Queen!" Chad replied rolling his eyes.

"Bad-timing-crazy-hair-basketball-robot!" she exclaimed.

"Cold-drama-queen-theater-loving-freak!" he said.

"Guys! Stop it, graduation is about to start, we should go to our seats" Gabriella said with an exasperated sigh, these two could fight for hours. The gang smiled sadly, high school is ending for real.

----

"This generation has been a total rebellion for the school: cliques separated, jocks starred in musicals…" Taylor was giving the Valedictorian speech. Everyone looked at Troy when she mentioned 'jocks starred in musicals'.

"And for me it's been a great pleasure to be Valedictorian. I know that I'll never forget these people, along with this school. I have a feeling that everyone here won something: new friends…" the gang looked at Gabriella with a smile, which she returned.

"Some came out of their shells…" the gang smiled now at Kelsi, her beautiful face not covered by glasses, she decided to wear contacts for the occasion. She grinned back, she was a great friend of them.

"We found love…" Taylor smiled at that, knowing that she had found it in Chad. Couples turned to look at their partners, and if they were close, would squeeze each other's hand in an affectionate way, like Troy and Gabriella did.

"And, overall enjoyed everyday of our lives. Like my friends say 'Live Everyday. Love Everyday'. So, thanks again my fellow classmates, and friends, for this wonderful years at East High School. Thank you" Taylor finished. Sharpay was crying, Gabriella had a few tears, as well as Kelsi and many other girls.

"And now I present you, for the last time, East High School's Class of 2008!" Principal Matsui said. The students jumped for joy and threw their hats in the air. Troy caught both his and Gabriella's and went over to hug her.

"Congratulations, Wildcat!" she told him effulging him in a hug. Then they both laughed as he put on their hats.

"Congratulations, Freaky Math Girl!" he told her with his famous grin.

"We made it! We're outta High School!" Chad's voice came from behind Troy, ruining yet again, another moment. Troy groaned, and Gabriella giggled, then they both hugged Chad.

"Congrats on the speech Tay, it was wonderful" Sharpay told her friend after they hugged. Then Ryan also came and congratulated her, giving both girls hugs.

"I got inspired while writing it, so many memories…" Taylor drifted off. She then felt someone hug her from behind. "Chad!!"

"Wonderful speech, Tay"

"Thanks" Chad kissed her lightly and then hugged her tightly. Soon, the six friends were in a circle, just enjoying the company. It wasn't like they were going far away for college. In fact, they were all going to University of Albuquerque, but hey, it doest take out the emotion of graduating.

"Wow… It's the first time I graduate with a class I've known for more than six months" Gabriella said with a chuckle and the others smiled.

"And how did it feel?" Ryan asked.

"Wicked awesome… I feel included" she sighed happily and took a look at her friends and boyfriend.

"So, college is coming, how will it be different?" Chad asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Well, we have different careers so our classes will be different. That means that you wont be able to call Tay for help in homework, she is going to be a Physician" Sharpay told him with a smirk.

Chad rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Drama Queen!" he replied and the four friends also rolled their eyes, mumbling "Here we go again".

"Also… Chad will have better timing" Troy said and they all laughed, except Chad, of course.

"What is this, 'Pick on Chad day'?!!" Taylor hit him on the back of the head. The rest ignored him.

"We can hang out at different times of day, depending our classes" Ryan continued with the ideas.

"Well… just remember that we have the entire summer to enjoy. So lets not worry about school, and homework. We should be worrying about our summer jobs at Lava Springs" Troy said, leave it to him to be worrying about summer jobs.

"You have a point with enjoying summer, but Troy, remember to not get carried away with stuff, okay?" Gabriella told her boyfriend.

"I won't. I already learned my lesson. I promise" he smiled at her and kissed the top of her head.

"Lets just remember something: No matter how little time we get to see each other sometimes, every moment counts" Gabriella said and the girls awed. The guys rolled their eyes, but smiled.

"We should head to the celebration, I don't want to miss the party, it's the reason why I got this dress" Sharpay said in a perky way.

"Whatever you say, Shar" Taylor said rolling her eyes, but smiling anyway. The gang smiled and hugged each other, then they left for the party, which was being held in the in the school's gym. And off they went, the six friends, after remembering many moments together, and knowing there were more to come.

**THE END**

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**A/N: I hoped you liked it... it was 9 pages long, and a little over 3400 words :) Plz Review and tell me what you think!!**


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